Badr Brigades on the way it looks like

Our Ramzi of Good Neighbors has been preternaturally calling the unfolding of events in Gaza, the West Bank and even as regards Lebanon in the past few months. Well before Gaza exploded, he predicted it would and he has been right on what will happen again and again and, now it seems yet again.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has asked Israel for permission to bring Fatah forces based in Jordan to the West Bank to try to shore up his control after Hamas’s Gaza takeover, Israeli officials said on Tuesday.

“The Palestinians put in a request yesterday to transfer the Badr Brigade from Jordan to the West Bank,” a senior Israeli government official told Reuters. “It is being evaluated and a decision will be made soon.”

If there are any bets being collected, I’m putting my money on “in they come.” In fact, I’m betting those “roads” (as Ramzi put it) were built weeks ago and now it is just a matter of the public and official stamps of approval for all parties.

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This entry was posted by Yael on June 26, 2007 at 7:20 pm, and is filed under Fatah, Israel, Middle East, Palestinians, gaza. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

Comments (4)

#1 written by lynne
about 3 years ago

Ramzi is right; Ramzi is always right
#2 written by jett
about 3 years ago

They can bring all the troops they want but if Fatah doesn’t get some commanders that know what they’re doing it will all be in vain. Gaza wasn’t just a defeat, it was a route with the Fatah leadership being the first to reach the border.
#3 written by lynne
about 3 years ago

Jett, I agree. I think that the leadership was probably wise to get out, to take up a better position in the West Bank. To stay would have meant senseless defeat under the circumstances.
#4 written by Yael
about 3 years ago

Jett –Yes it was a route but you also have to remember that they did not get orders to fight back until very close to their being defeated. The orders coming in from the W.B. were for them to do what they could to not escalate the situation while every diplomatic avenue was pursued. By the time they received the go-ahead to begin being able to take strong action, key roads and key positions were already fully under Hamas control and it was impossible for them to move their troops around to give support to positions that were under attack –and escape routes were also closed off so they could not withdraw and retrench elsewhere. Even before the situation was declared a civil war there was a lot of speculation among palestinians that Fatah would basically choose to give up Gaza because with the separation of the WB and Gaza official (and as a Jordanian poster reported well before the civil war occurred, 70 high ranking members of parliament made a visit to the Jordan to discuss how the WB could officially separate from Gaza) and the concentration of Power in the WB firmly established with no Hamas interference, that things could go forward on the diplomatic front. That is, of course, what we do see happening. In other words, there was speculation that there would be a calculated defeat before the fight was engaged.